CBJ Assembly Meetings

A citizens’ board is recommending a 5 percent increase in Juneau sewer and water rates beginning July first.

The Utility Advisory Board told the CBJ Assembly Committee of the Whole on Monday that revenues would be used to defray operating costs, manage water and sewer lines as well as long-term planning.

Chairman Geoff Larson said the board will conduct a rate study this year to hear from the public.  The last one was done a decade ago.

“The utility’s financial situation is not all that great. We have a huge asset. We have a huge water distribution system and we have a waste water plant that’s operating. But we haven’t been able to accumulate enough to do preventative maintenance and maintenance for the long term,” he said.

The city created the Utility Advisory Board in 2004, after sewer rates went up 39 percent and water rates increased 19 percent —  the first rate hike in 12 years. The rate study at the time recommended sizeable increases in 2007 and 2009, but that didn’t happen.

Now both treatment plants need work or replacing; the biosolids incinerator has been shut down, requiring landfill disposal and barging; Last chance Basin and Salmon Creek water systems need major upgrades, and there is no revenue cushion for emergencies.

Board member George Porter said small increases once a year would be easier on rate payers than a large one every five years.

“The utilities aren’t exactly like roads and streets where you might be able to defer grading a road for a period of time,” he said. “If a water line breaks you can’t wait a week to repair it, you have to do it when it happens. It’s the same with sewer.”

Porter says the rate increases would help develop a fund balance for ongoing maintenance.  If the city had adopted a 5 percent annual increase in 2004, the wastewater utility would have a $19-million savings account, instead of $3.5 million, while the water utility would have about $8 million. It currently has $400,000 in reserves.

Assembly members asked the board a few questions but did not discuss the recommendations, or even refer the utility report to a committee.  After the meeting, Deputy Mayor Mary Becker said she would send  the rate hike to the Finance Committee on May 6th when the Assembly meets again as a Committee of the Whole.

Juneau residential customers currently pay about $90 a month for water and sewer.  Rates would go up approximately $4.50 a month, if the 5 percent increase is adopted.

Three blocks of downtown Juneau’s Main Street will likely be closed for another six weeks.

Contractor Arete Construction started working on street improvements just after the end of this year’s legislative session. CBJ Engineering Director Rorie Watt says the work was scheduled with an eye on having the least impact on both the session and the upcoming tourist season.

“When the name of the road is Main Street there’s never a good time to rebuild it, and it’s always tricky to accommodate all of the needs,” Watt told the Juneau Assembly Public Works Committee on Monday. “But where we are now, we hope to get the buses back and the road open by June 15th.”

Watt said the entire project is scheduled to be complete by August 15th.

This is the second phase of Main Street improvements, which started in 2010 with a major overhaul from Egan Drive up to 2nd Street.

Phase two has a budget of just over $2 million, and includes replacement of the water, sewer, and storm drainage systems between 2nd and 5th streets, as well as the addition of new traffic islands, landscaping, and a sidewalk canopy.

“There will be covered walking more or less continuous from the parking garage up to 4th Street,” Watt said. “So, it’s part of trying to provide covered walkways to the Capitol.”

Speaking of the Capitol, Watt says the city will work with the contractor of a renovation project scheduled to get underway this summer.

The borough assemblies from Haines, Skagway and Juneau will meet Friday afternoon in the Skagway Assembly Chambers for what’s being billed as “The Northern Lynn Canal Neighbors Summit.”

Whitehorse, Yukon officials are expected to attend as well, giving the gathering an international flavor.

First-term Juneau Mayor Merrill Sanford has made reaching out to neighboring communities a priority for his first year in office. The rest of the CBJ Assembly backs his efforts. But the mayor credits City Clerk Laurie Sica with organizing the summit.

“This happened to come about because our City Clerk Laurie Sica is from Skagway and knows a lot of people up there,” Sanford says. “So, I kind of said something to her one day and she said, ‘Oh, that’s a great idea.’ And then she got on and started us moving in that direction, and here we are.”

The broad topics to be discussed at the summit include energy, transportation, harbors, and tourism. Specific items include shore power for cruise ships, an electrical intertie from Whitehorse to Juneau, the state ferry system, and a road north of the Capital City.

Sanford says he hopes the dialog leads to more dialog.

“My whole thing about doing this was just getting to know each other better,” he says. “You know, it’s not necessarily coming to some resolution on any topic, or coming to any decision on any topic.”

With as many as 30 elected officials from the four communities attending the summit, Skagway Mayor Stan Selmer jokes, “Probably the longest item on the agenda is going to be the introduction of members.”

Joking aside, Selmer agrees with Sanford that the meeting should focus on a continuing conversation.

“We’ve done these meetings before, we just haven’t had any ‘stick-to-it-iveness,'” says Selmer. “But I think Mayor Sanford wants to move in that direction and there’s certainly no reason not to proceed that way.”

Whitehorse Mayor Dan Curtis is unable to attend the summit due to other commitments. The Canadian city will send Deputy Mayor Kirk Cameron and two other council members in his place. Curtis says he hopes to attend future gatherings of the neighboring communities.

“Juneau and Whitehorse have a lot in common, being capital cities of course. And Skagway, of course, being a port and being so close, we have a real kinship there as well, and Haines as well,” Curtis says. “There’s a lot of things that we think that we can work together on, and learn from each other, and kind of share ideas and suggestions, and solutions to some of our concerns.”

Haines, Skagway and Juneau are members of Southeast Conference and Alaska Municipal League, organizations that regularly facilitate conversations about regional issues. Sanford says what makes the neighbors summit unique is that it’s a one-to-one discussion, without constraints imposed by an outside group.

“We’re full grown adults and can make our own decisions,” Selmer says.

For his part, Sanford looks forward to holding similar meetings with Juneau’s neighbors throughout Southeast. He says that’s more important than ever since the region lost representation in the legislature through the recent state redistricting process.

“When you get to know somebody and talk with somebody, you know they’re not very much different than you are,” says Sanford. “And we need to make sure that we’re all in the same boat most of the time, and that we’re battling in the same direction.”

Juneau’s legislative delegation will take part in the meeting. Representative Beth Kerttula and Senator Dennis Egan, whose districts now include Skagway, will be on teleconference. Representative Cathy Munoz will be there in person. Sanford hopes Sitka Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, who represents Haines, will be able to participate as well.

The agenda also includes an opportunity for public comment.

Link:
Northern Lynn Canal Neighbors Summit Agenda

Juneau Veterans for Peace says it will not appeal the Juneau Assembly’s decision upholding a Planning Commission permit for a gun store and shooting range near the airport.

In a 6 to 2 vote late Monday night, the Assembly ruled the Planning Commission properly issued the permit last December.  The veterans’ group appealed the Juneau Mercantile and Armory permit just after it was issued, arguing the Planning Commission did not properly consider public health and safety, or the CBJ Comprehensive Plan.

Veterans’ for Peace Chapter President Phil Smith is not surprised by the decision. The group will not take the appeal to the next level, which would be Juneau Superior Court.

“The decision makes it fairly clear  that there is an enormous amount of deference that is given to municipal bodies by the courts, and plus it would cost a lot of money,” Smith says.

The appeal to this point has consisted of his time and not much expense, but a court challenge would require a lot more.

“We would need an attorney; it would be, I think, extraordinarily expensive, time consuming and ultimately futile,” he says.

But Smith says Juneau Veterans for Peace will “watch wearily as the development goes in and continue to see if there are things we can do to make our community a little gentler and kinder.”

Mayor Merrill Sanford and Assembly members Mary Becker, Jesse Kiehl, Jerry Nankervis, Carlton Smith and Randy Wanamaker voted to uphold the Planning Commission.  Karen Crane and Loren Jones voted with the appellants.

Jones was hearing officer for the case, which was heard by the Assembly on April 1st.  He says the Planning Commission did not have a sufficient record regarding health and safety.

For example, he says, during a Planning Commission hearing on the permit, there was testimony that armory shooting instructors would be certified, “but nobody asked who’s doing the certification. What are the credentials of the people doing the certification? Was it a national certification, a state certification, a private certification?”

Jones has similar questions for training and safety plans that were noted in the permit record.

“Nobody on the Planning Commission asked for copies of those, nobody asked who approved those plans, whether the Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms with the feds had to approve it, who wrote them,” Jones says. “I felt that their reliance on simply saying this was a land use and zoning issue as opposed to a potential safety issue in the borough just didn’t wash with me.”

But Assembly member Jerry Nankervis says the question before the Assembly was narrow.

“We’re sitting in a quasi-judicial role and when we review an appeal of a Planning Commission decision what we’re looking at is whether the city and the Planning Commission followed the rules the city has in place for the city,” he says. “And it’s not about whether I like the project or I don’t like the project, it’s about whether the process was followed.” 

Nankervis acknowledges the Planning Commission’s discussion on safety at the gun range was thin.

The 13,000 square foot facility on Crest Street would offer semi-automatic, automatic and assault-style weapons, which Smith calls guns of war.

Nankervis – a former Juneau Police Officer – believes the new Juneau Mercantile and Armory will be a safer place than Juneau’s outdoor shooting range.

“I’ve been at the gun range, Hack Harmon, before, sighting in my rifle for deer season and had people show up with automatic weapons and shoot there, and I believe, based on my experience on what I’ve done for a living, that having that done in a supervised range is safer than having it done at an unsupervised range,” he says.

One of the things Juneau Veterans for Peace hopes would grow out of the appeal is a community conversation on gun safety.  But Smith knows it would pit “those who think any discussion of public safety along those lines is somehow an attack on second amendment rights. Then there are those who sort of more agree with Juneau Veterans for Peace that it’s just smart to have that conversation.  It’s smart to determine whether it makes a lot of sense to expose children to automatic weapons and all that entails.  It’s smart to tone down the level of rhetoric.”

Neither Assembly member Jones nor Nankervis believe the Assembly would get behind a public discourse on guns, though Nankervis says it might be a cathartic conversation.  The state of Alaska – not municipalities — regulates gun use.

When Jim King was appointed to the City and Borough of Juneau’s first Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee in 1968, the Capital City didn’t even have a Parks and Rec department.

Today, the department is responsible for managing more than 50 parks and trails, two swimming pools, an ice arena, a skate park, and a rifle range. Not to mention the Jensen-Olson Arboretum, the Zach Gordon Youth Center, Centennial Hall, two parking garages, and the Juneau-Douglas City Museum.

King stepped down from the PRAC last month after 45 years. The Juneau Assembly on Monday honored his contributions to recreation in the Capital City and statewide. The proclamation took Mayor Merrill Sanford three minutes to read, and included nine whereas sections.

CBJ Parks and Rec Director Brent Fischer joked it easily could have been longer.

“We could have added more whereases on there until the sun came up tomorrow,” Fischer said. “But I want the Assembly and the public to know just, because of you, what a better place this community is.”

In 1970, King led the PRAC’s effort to compile a comprehensive list of parks and trails in Juneau. He also helped establish the Juneau State Parks Advisory Board, and led the charge to create the Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge.

“I’ve always thought it was a privilege to live in Juneau and to be involved in the community as a volunteer with the Parks and Rec department,” King said. “It’s been wonderful.”

King worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for more than 30 years as an enforcement agent, refuge manager and wildlife biologist. His final meeting as a member of the PRAC was in March.

The 85 year old will continue to live in Juneau with his wife, Mary Lou.

Juneau residents sent the CBJ Assembly a clear message Monday night: Do not roll back property taxes if it would mean cuts to city services.

In the first public hearing on proposed revisions to city and borough’s fiscal year 2014 budget, nearly a dozen people testified that a small property tax increase is worth it to maintain about a million dollars in spending.

Last year the Assembly authorized the increase of .23 mills to the city’s operating mill rate to cover an expected budget shortfall. But now some members want to see that overturned. The Assembly Finance Committee asked City Manager Kim Kiefer for a list of potential budget reductions if the operating mill rate stays the same.

Among the items on the chopping block is money for firefighter training and an administrative position at Capital City Fire and Rescue. Firefighter Roy Johnston testified on behalf of the International Association of Firefighters Local 4303.

“Juneau career firefighters – 40 men and women – are opposed to the proposed cuts to the fire department,” Johnston said. “Two full time positions, funding for emergency services classes – these cuts will have a negative effect on public safety.”

Others spoke against cuts to youth activity grants and scholarships. Discovery Southeast Executive Director Beth Weigel called the list of potential reductions “alarming.”

“In about a month here, the schools are going to be out, and many organizations like my own have been planning summer programs for youth,” Weigel said. “And parents have been counting on the fact that we’ll have these sort of programs. So, this is going to leave a lot of parents at a loss for childcare, and as you know our community is already at a deficit for childcare.”

None of the testifiers spoke in favor of reversing the proposed mill rate increase. However, some urged the Assembly to take a look at the city’s assessment practices, saying that unexplained increases in a property’s assessed value is more concerning than a small increase in the mill levy.

The proposed FY14 mill rate of 10.89 mills was among four budget related ordinances up for public hearing on Monday. All four were referred back to the Assembly Finance Committee for further consideration. The Assembly has until June 15th to adopt the final budget.

Manager Evaluation Process Chosen

The Juneau Assembly will do an in-house evaluation of City Manager Kim Kiefer’s performance during her first year on the job.

The Assembly had been considering an outside, third-party evaluation. But members voted 6 to 3 last night (Monday) to do an internal review led by Mayor Merrill Sanford.

The third-party evaluation could have cost the city up to $20,000 dollars, and Sanford said that was a factor in his decision to support keeping the process in-house. Other members noted that the city’s Human Resources Department could help the Assembly set up a review similar to that used by an outside company.

Assembly members Randy Wanamaker, Carlton Smith and Jerry Nankervis voted against the internal review. Wanamaker said the manager is essentially the CEO of a $320 million dollar company, and her performance deserves more scrutiny.

Kiefer has been City Manager for a little more than a year. She previously served seven years as Deputy City Manager and was Acting Manager for six months in 2009.